Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu, the "Lost City of the Incas", as it was dubbed by the man who rediscovered it in the last century, is among the greatest tourist attractions in South America today and ranks among the most outstanding symbols in the Andean cultures.

The legendary Inca settlement of Machu Picchu has become one of the world's iconic areas. Its haunting aura is enhanced by the mystery surrounding its use and abandonment. Machu Picchu is a manmade masterpiece blends into nature in the Andes.

The ancient city of Machu Picchu attracts visitors from all over the world. Historians believe the Inca began building Machu Picchu around the 1450s, but because they left no written records behind, no one knows exactly what their purpose was.

Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its primary buildings are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows.

Johan Reinhard (Archaeologist): The Inca royal family would go there for different kinds of ceremonies, and we do know that the Incas had a very strong ritual element there.

Reinhard: Machu Picchu was probably abandoned or began to be abandoned already before the Spanish came, and that's becuase around 1525 there was a civil war. After the Spanish arrived seven years later, in 1532, the Inca deliberately burned the forest around Machu Picchu. They burned it because the foliage re-grows and completely covers it and made it virtually impassable.

Perhaps, thanks to the Inca's efforts to hide the city, the Spanish never found Machu Picchu. It was lost to the wider world until geographer Hiram Bingham rediscovered it in 1911. In 1983, Machu Picchu was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As archaeologists learn more about what happened here, new questions continue to arise, guaranteeing that Machu Picchu will remain a place of mystery for years to come.